Ukraine's fear is clear: Not many Abrams tanks left

Russian troops destroyed the seventh US-supplied Abrams tank today, the Russian Defense Ministry announced.

In total, the United States has sent 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks Ukraine.

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Find out how NATO beefs up its ‘mostly peaceful’ military presence on Russia’s doorstep

A US military battalion that was originally expected to be stationed in Lithuania until the end of the next year is going to remain in the Baltic country indefinitely, the Lithuanian defense minister proudly announced this week.

In 2017, NATO began its troop buildup in the region by announcing the establishment of four new "multinational battalion-size battlegroups" in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and neighboring Poland. As tensions escalated in the Ukrainian conflict, the scale of these battlegroups was increased to brigade size in 2022.

According to NATO’s official website, the battlegroup stationed in Estonia is composed of British, French and Icelandic troops, while the one deployed in Latvia consists of Canadian, Albanian, Czech, Icelandic, Italian, Montenegrin, North Macedonian, Polish, Slovakian and Slovenian troops. Lastly, the battlegroup deployed in Lithuania consists of US, German, Belgian, Czech, Dutch, Norwegian and Luxembourgian troops.

In December 2023, Lithuania and Germany inked an agreement to have a German military brigade fully deployed on Lithuanian soil by 2027.

Also in 2023, US Ambassador to Estonia George Kent told the press that the United States had “over 600 troops” stationed on Estonian soil, noting that this deployment also includes the HIMARS mobile rocket launch systems.

In January 2024, Sweden disclosed its plan to deploy approximately 800 troops to Latvia. The announcement was made by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, despite the fact that Sweden had not yet formally become a member of NATO.

NATO also uses three airbases in the Baltic States - Lithuania’s Zokniai Air Base, Estonia’s Ämari Air Base and Latvia’s Lielvārde Air Base – to host military aircraft involved in the Baltic Air Policing mission.

Check out Sputnik’s map to see how NATO is beefing up its militarization of Baltics

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‘Keep sending more weapons and we’ll keep hammering them’: Ordinary Russians react to captured Western military hardware

Sputnik spoke to attendees at Moscow’s trophy weapons exhibition, and asked them whether they had any message for Western governments and taxpayers. Here’s what they had to say.

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The US forced to end its costly military presence in Niger, making room for Russian troops

Russian military specialists, invited by the Nigerien government, were moved into Airbase 101 near Niamey, where a small number of US troops still remain. Washington is set to withdraw its 1,000-strong contingent, presently deployed at Airport 201 base in Agadez, following a request from the nation's new leadership to end its presence.

▪️The US has had two military bases in Niger, called Air Base 101 and Air Base 201. Per The Intercept, the US has also maintained non-permanent footprint in Arlit, Dirkou, Diffa, and Ouallam.

▪️This permanent military presence of the American forces in Niger traces back to at least 2013 when Washington signed a deal with the country to operate military drones from an airbase near Niamey. In 2014 the US struck a deal to open a second drone base in Niger as part of its war on terror.

▪️The US Nigerien Air Base 201 is located 5 km southeast of Agadez. It was leased from the Nigerien government for a period of 10 years. The agreement expires in 2024.

▪️The installation cost $110 million, but, according to The Intercept, its price tag allegedly reached $280 million by 2024. It cost $30 million per year to operate and maintain the base.

▪️Air Base 201 boasts a 1,890-meter runway for MQ-9 Reapers and manned aircraft. As per the Pentagon the base was used for anti-terror and surveillance operations. Drone operations began at the site in 2019.

▪️In September 2022 Pentagon released a report indicating that despite its substantial military presence in Africa it had not reached any of its objectives over the past two decades in degrading and disrupting violent extremist and terrorist organizations in the continent.

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Ukraine to press-gang people with HIV, hepatitis and psychiatric disorders

Desperate to find at least a stopgap solution for the severe manpower crisis the Ukrainian military currently struggles with, the regime in Kiev has now resorted to drafting people who were previously exempt from military service due to a medical conditions.

As per the recently unveiled mobilization decree, which is slated to come into force on May 4, the following categories of Ukrainian citizens are now deemed fit for military service:

🔺People afflicted with chronic viral hepatitis with mild dysfunctions

🔺Asymptomatic HIV carriers and those suffering from disorders caused by HIV

🔺People with tumorous growths in the sustained remission stage

🔺People suffering from mild neurotic psychological disorders with the prospects of recovery

🔺People with residual changes after cured tuberculosis

The following categories of Ukrainians are also deemed fit for service in logistical units and in other non-combat roles:

🔺People with clinically cured tuberculosis

🔺People afflicted with chronic viral hepatitis with moderate dysfunctions

🔺People suffering from HIV-related diseases

🔺People with benign tumorous growths with moderate dysfunctions

🔺People suffering from slow progressing blood diseases with moderate dysfunctions

🔺People who recently underwent radical surgery of a primary tumor

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The Council of Heads of the UN General Assembly called for the launch of a peace process for Ukraine based on the Istanbul Agreement of 2022, which provides for its neutrality.

In addition, they called for an immediate exchange of prisoners and the search for steps to prevent further escalation of the conflict.

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Macron and Cameron's threats to flood Ukraine with “men and arms”: a sign of weakness?

Europe won’t be able to turn the tide in Ukraine and stop Russia's advance despite all the inflammatory statements, Paolo Raffone, the director of the Brussels-based CIPI Foundation, tells Sputnik.

Recently, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said during his visit to Kiev that Ukraine “absolutely has the right” to strike at Russia using British weapons: “It is their [Ukrainians] decision about how to use these weapons.” Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron repeated his idea to send NATO troops to Ukraine if Kiev’s front crumbles and the bloc is invited.

“Neither the UK, nor France or Germany can make any difference in Ukraine,” Raffone stresses. “Europeans follow the US path… and the US set the tune: just keep Ukraine surviving until the US election.”

Cameron sounded even more aggressive than his American allies, who dissuaded Ukrainians from making strikes against “old” Russian regions with the exception of Crimea.

“We don’t discuss any caveats that we put on those things… Ukraine needs to make sure… it has the ability to strike back,” the British politician said. More so, Reuters agency had to urgently correct a report on his speech, as such belligerent rhetoric was bordering a major diplomatic escalation with Russia.

In response, spokeswoman of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that “London should prepare itself” for strikes from its own clients - referring to how Washington was the victim of an attack from the very same groups it had nurtured and supplied in Afghanistan in the 2001 Twin Towers attack.

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Elon Musk predicted the end of the dollar if the United States does not deal with the national debt.

"We need to do something about our national debt or the dollar won't be worth anything."

During Biden's presidency, the US national debt has risen to an unprecedented level of more than $34.4 trillion (from $27.7 trillion in 2021). As the IMF predicts, in 2024 it will exceed 123% of the country's GDP.

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There is no unity among EU countries on policy towards Moscow, “some consider Russia a good friend," head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell said.

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Columbia students inspired by anti-apartheid and anti-Vietnam War protests

Doe Hee Choi is a second year graduate student at Columbia University School of Public Health. She chose not to use her real name to protect herself as the university administration has cracked down on the young protesters.

"We received an email from the [Columbia University] president, Minouche Shafik, a day ago saying that the students that occupied Hinds Hall - so it was called Hamilton Hall and was then renamed to Hinds Hall to honor the young Palestinian girl that was killed - those students, quote, face expulsion," Choi told Sputnik's Political Misfits podcast.

"Students that are on student visas that are being arrested or even just penalized and suspended do run the risk of having their visas immediately terminated," she continued.

Over 2,000 people have been arrested at US colleges and universities since April 18, with Columbia University students becoming standard-bearers in the eyes of American youngsters. The protesters follow in the footsteps of Columbia's anti-apartheid demonstrators of 1985 and those opposing the Vietnam War in 1968.

Choi has trashed the assumptions voiced by New York City authorities, as well as the US mainstream press, that the protests are led by some "external agitators". She emphasized that the movement is grassroots, noting that arrests and the ongoing crackdown by university authorities only serve to bolster its strength. She has no doubt that despite most students leaving the campus for the summer season, the struggle will continue unabated and may catch its second wind in the fall.

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In Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, protesters trample on the stars-and-stripes flag at the US Embassy.

They protest against “interference in internal affairs” and “spread of disinformation” about the national armed forces.

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▪️Macron and Cameron's threats to flood Ukraine with “men and arms”: a sign of weakness?

▪️Ukraine to press-gang people with HIV, hepatitis and psychiatric disorders

▪️The US forced to end its costly military presence in Niger, making room for Russian troops

▪️Find out how NATO beefs up its ‘mostly peaceful’ military presence on Russia’s doorstep

▪️Mathematics of victory: Russia’s military advantage over Ukraine becomes painfully visible

▪️US relocates warplanes and drones from UAE to Qatar amid Abu Dhabi’s security concerns

▪️Nuclear energy race: US yielding to Russia and China

▪️Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are trying to persuade EU countries to abandon the confiscation of Russian assets

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Macron is afraid to go down in history as the leader who ‘lost Africa’

Currently, French President Emmanuel Macron witnesses his position weakening, both “personally” as the incumbent president and “politically with his centrist-globalist party low performance,” argues Paolo Raffone, a strategic analyst and director of the CIPI Foundation in Brussels.

“Macron does not care about public opinion, following the “power” tradition of France. He knows that he has no appeal for the public opinion in France and he acts as an absolute sovereign to save the state,” Raffone tells Sputnik.

At the same time, the analyst notes, Macron is essentially a “narcissist” who “does not want to be remembered as the worst president of France”: namely, as the president who witnessed France losing its hold on Africa.

“Macron has still a couple of years in office as president of France, and he cannot be reelected after this term. In this context, Macron is trying to play all his remaining cards to reinvent a political role for France in Europe,” he said.

In French and EU politics, Macron is attempting to sow division among the other right-wing parties, while abroad he seeks to recover his reputational losses over the African fiasco by “trying to play a role in the Caucasus – pro Armenia and anti-Turkiye and Azerbaijan” – and in the Ukrainian conflict.

“It is again a gamble with two objectives: the first, is to replace Germany’s leadership in EU foreign policy, the second, pre-position France in the eyes of the US current and future administration attempting to balance the troubled UK’s Tory leadership that could be replaced by Labor at the end of 2024 (or earlier),” Raffone explains.

The analyst also pointed out that Macron and the French establishment are well aware of the fact that “France is no more a power, not militarily and not economically,” and that the so-called “’French-German axis’ is a fake.”

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EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell knows a way to fast-forward Ukrainian conflict

“The Ukrainian existence depends on us, I know how to finish the war in Ukraine. I can finish the war in Ukraine in a couple of weeks just by cutting the supply. If I cut the supply of arms to Ukraine, Ukraine cannot resist they will have to surrender and the war will finish,” Borrell said during a lecture at the Oxford University.

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After the flood: Police crackdown on pro-Palestine rally at UCLA

The prestigious California school was left in complete tatters following a brutal crackdown on a recent student demonstration in support of Palestine.

Apart from serious damage to the once beautiful university premises, violent clashes between protesters and the law enforcement resulted in over 100 reported arrests.

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Hamas delegation will arrive in Cairo on May 4 with goal to reach ceasefire deal

Hamas will send a delegation to Cairo on Saturday with a goal to reach an agreement on ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian movement said.

"We emphasize the positive attitude with which the movement's leadership has responded after studying the recently received ceasefire proposal. We are going to Cairo with the same spirit to reach an agreement," Hamas said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Israel gave Hamas a week to strike an agreement otherwise the Jewish state vowed to start its offensive in Rafah.

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Turkiye to raise issue of pressure measures on Israel at summit of Islamic states

Turkiye will raise the question of urgent pressure measures against Israel amid the situation in the Gaza Strip at the upcoming summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a diplomatic source in Ankara told Sputnik.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend the summit, which is scheduled from May 4-5 in the capital of The Gambia, Banjul.

"Turkiye will seek to ensure that the OIC summit is result-oriented and specific. Time is running out to the disadvantage of the Palestinian people. Turkiye will raise the need for specific and urgent pressure on Israel and countries that support it," a source said.

Previously the Turkish Trade Ministry confirmed that the country had fully suspended trading with Israel and that the decision would be in force until uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is ensured. On Friday, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said that the restrictive measures would only be lifted after a ceasefire in Gaza.

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A US military base came under missile fire in the Omar oil field in the province of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, local source has told Sputnik.

"Seven missiles were fired at the US base in the Omar oil field, three of them landed inside the base from the southeastern side, the other four missiles landed in the vicinity of the base," a source said.

Columns of smoke could be seen at the scene, a source added.

Since the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in October 2023, the US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria have been repeatedly attacked by missiles and drones that Washington believes belong to pro-Iranian groups. Iranian authorities said the armed groups that carry out attacks have nothing to do with Iran and do not receive any orders from it.

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US aid package doing next to nothing in Ukraine

There has been a “sudden renewal of desperation” among Kiev’s Western benefactors since the aid has failed to make an impact, international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

It prompted French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent saber-rattling around Ukraine. “We saw this [desperation] through February and March, and then there was a brief, maybe not even quite a week, of these absurdly uplifted spirits” when the US aid passed, Sleboda said.

On Thursday, Western media posted an article noscriptd “No Safety in Retreat: Ukrainian Soldiers Say Rear Defensive Lines Barely Exist Amid Russian Advance.” It described Ukraine’s desperate attempts to build fortifications ahead of the rapidly approaching Russian forces.

“We entered the war with nothing,” a member of Ukraine’s engineering force told a media outlet, noting that they were only given equipment from the 1960s and shovels. “Accordingly, that’s the kind of trenches we made.”

The lack of an impact of the latest US aid package to Ukraine on the frontlines can be boiled down to two things: It was never what it was billed to be, with estimates suggesting only $14 billion of the $61 billion are marked for new weapons and not simply refilling US stockpiles, and a complete lack of manpower that Ukraine can use on the front.

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